Enemy Talk

Here's the best of what Cowboys coach Wade Phillips had to say to the New York media.

Q: From what you have seen how different is it when you look at film of Tiki Barber vs Brandon Jacobs? Do you guys do things differently with a bigger back in there?

A: Well, yeah, I think every back has his own style, his own strength. But they have looked really good running the ball in the preseason. They averaged 5.1 in the preseason. Tiki made 1,600 yards but he had to have a line blocking for him and I think they have a strong run blocking team and a good back. But, sure, it will be more power stuff than what Tiki ran, although Tiki ran inside. But you would think it would be more inside stuff than outside. That is what we are planning on.

Q: Do they do more maybe man-to-man blocking as opposed to zone with the bigger guy, more power game?

A: Like I said, they are pretty proficient at run blocking. So I don’t see where they changed a whole lot. Certainly a lot of plays Tiki made were blocked well. The percentage out of those 1,600 yards was pretty good as far as - he had a hole. Now a great back like he was will make people miss or make extra yardage and that is what they are going to try to do.

Q: How close did you come to becoming Giant defensive coordinator a few years back?

A: When I went to Atlanta?

Q: Yeah.

A: Pretty close. Jim Fassel was my coordinator in Denver and we talked about it. And then, of course, Dan Reeves, I had worked for him before. So that was really ….. the decision. And actually the Giants had a lot better defense going in than Atlanta did. But I ended up going to Atlanta and it worked out fine.

Q: What do you make of Eli Manning’s preseason? It seems to us up here that he has made a lot of progress in some areas – certainly accuracy.

A: Outstanding. When you see his completion percentage go up so much you have to notice it; 68, 69% in preseason. He has been a good player, obviously, but his passing percentage has been around – what – 57, 58, right in there. And he was significantly better. So you had to notice that right off. And he had good command. Seems like they moved the ball every time he was in there and scored. He is at the right time of his career, I think, where he is feeling comfortable about playing the game and it is not too big for him and all of those things.